


"Lover to lover" - [Tom Hiddleston/Jeremy Irons - one shot].

by A_Wolf



Category: British Actor RPF, Jeremy Irons - Fandom, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom, hiddlestoners
Genre: A.Wölf, Multi, Tumblr: theartofimagining13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 17:27:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11212770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Wolf/pseuds/A_Wolf
Summary: Based on: You and Tom have a difficult relationship. You can’t seem to commit even though you love him, and that’s all he wants from you but every time you argue, you end up taking refuge under Jeremy’s wing. He, on the other hand, is thankful for the few moments he gets to spend with you, treats you like a princess, and takes care of you. Tom knows all about it and it kills him because he genuinely feels intimidated by Jeremy and your undying love for him.





	"Lover to lover" - [Tom Hiddleston/Jeremy Irons - one shot].

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a conversation between those who believe in love, those who don’t, and those with their own version of it or those who seem to actually understand it.

**Originally posted at** : [The Art of Imagining](http://theartofimagining13.tumblr.com/).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* * *

Barefoot.

Walking along the lake as the sun set while holding my heels in my right hand, and all I could hear was the sound of rippling water and the lovely birds’ song during the short pauses he and I took while our mouths gave birth to yet another argument.

 _“Is this why you brought me here?”_ I asked.

Tom looked at the ground, with his hands inside his pockets as we kept on going forward, but I would’ve been able to sense his disapproval from a long distance.

 _“It’s just a wedding”,_ he muttered with a shrug, _“It’s what happens during these events. Why come all the way to the lake by yourself while everybody else is having fun up there?”_ He inquired, nudging his chin in the reception’s direction.

I stopped walking. I couldn’t take it anymore.

_“You know exactly what you’re doing, Thomas”._

He stopped too and met my eyes.

_“It’s just a bouquet for god’s sake! A silly tradition. Who says you’re going to catch it anyway?”_

_“It’s not the bouquet. It’s the fact that you actually hope I catch it. That you wanted me to hold your friend’s baby as soon as we arrived and snap a picture when I’ve told you a million times I don’t like that. That I agreed to come here and you’re forcing all these things again”._

_“Oh I am well-aware that I almost had to drag you here, trust me. You didn’t even attend my sister’s wedding for crying out loud”._

_“Oh my god”,_ I scoffed rolling my eyes.

He grabbed my arm to stop me from walking away.

_“Is the idea of marrying me so unbearable to you? Why is it so hard to understand that I want these things for us, that I want to marry you and have children with you?”_

“ _Why is it so hard for you to understand that I want none of that? That I am happy with the way things are between us, that it’s enough for me?”_

He clenched his jaw and let go of me.

_“Well, it’s not enough for me”._

We stood there, just scowling at each other in silence for too long.

 _“I’m leaving then”,_ I murmured turning around.

He let out a sarcastic chuckle and kept on grinning while shaking his head.

 _“Of course you are”,_ he spat, smile fading, tone rising, _“It’s all you do. Go then! Run into his fucking arms again!”_

 _“He, unlike you, doesn’t ask for much”,_ I said through gritted teeth while pointing my finger into his chest before turning to leave.

Only to spin back around when he had the audacity of choosing the wrong words.

 _“Just sex, right?”_ he asked scrunching his nose, _“You like being treated like a whore then?”_

I cocked my head and widened my eyes at him. Even opened my mouth to retort but he beat me at it, instantly realizing his mistake.

 _“I’m s- I’m sorry. I didn’t… I didn’t mean that”,_ he stammered, shutting his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Too late. I was already leaving.

 _“I love you. Does he ever say that to you?”_ he yelled.

No. We weren’t so fond of the L word, my lover and i, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

 _“Damn right he doesn’t! You know why? Because he will never love you like I do_!” He screamed, voice breaking.

I started trotting. The sooner I was gone the better. I didn’t look back even though I heard him exclaiming _“Fuck!”,_ and I even envisioned him angrily throwing a rock at the lake.

What a view. What a waste.

* * *

Before I even put the key into the keyhole of his home, I could already hear the soft music coming from inside.

I let out a long and melancholy sigh as I shut my eyes and leaned against the door for a few seconds. I heard him faintly humming along the song. My friend. My lover. My Jeremy. I walked in to find him lying beneath the kitchen sink with a wrench in hand, fixing the drain the handyman, and a cigarette dangling from his lips. I stood near his feet and he stopped singing out of the corner of his mouth once he saw me. He wasted no time in getting rid of it and leaving everything to stand and tower over me.

He fixed his brown eyes into mine with a glint of fascination that only a man who hasn’t seen his long lost love in years would have. Hardly the case for us. We met frequently.

 _“And then she asks me, ‘do you feel all right?’ and I say, ‘yes, I feel wonderful tonight’”_ he softly sang with shut eyes while slowly getting closer to me until our noses touched, _“What are you doing here at this hour, child?”_

He turned to grab a wet rag and wiped his hands. I studied him. He was wearing jeans and a gray t-shirt stained with engine oil, which let me know that it had been one of those long days he spent fixing things around the house including his car. He raised his eyebrows at my lack of answer and his expression changed but all he did was grab two mugs from a cabinet as it dawned on him.

 _“Can I murder him this time?”_ he asked, turning on the coffeemaker.

I sat at his wooden table, sank in the chair.

_“It wasn’t that bad”._

_“You’re here, aren’t you? He keeps on pushing you away”._

_“It’s not him… it’s me”._

_“It’s him”,_ he emphasized.

He placed a pan on the stove and started washing and chopping vegetables before I knew it.

 _“Poor thing doesn’t know that conventional love will be the death of you”,_ he added, glancing at me over his shoulder with a playful side smirk.

_“He took me to his friend’s wedding”._

Jeremy stiffened, even stopped stirring the food in the pan, and let out a boisterous laugh.

_“Preposterous. Outrageous! How dare he? He hasn’t got a clue, has he?”_

Jeremy poured me a cup of freshly brewed coffee and placed it in front of me on the table before putting one hand on the back of my chair and the other one on the table, leaning closer towards me.

_“I must shower. Do me a favor and turn off the stove in a couple minutes, will you? I’ll be quick so you can tell me all about it during dinner. Make yourself at home”._

He kissed the top of my head and walked away without another word, grabbing a towel from his bed on his way to the bathroom. And I can’t help but realize once again that there are no simple questions when I’m with Jeremy. No _“Are you hungry?”_ or “ _What do you want to eat?”_ or _“Should we eat in or out?”_ He’s authoritative in the best possible way. He knows what I need, when and how I need it. Just now he knew I had something to discuss over coffee, and that I’m starving but don’t feel like cooking myself or going to a restaurant. That I want to be spoiled.

He knows me like the back of his hand.

Tom, on the other hand, is a classic gentleman. Maybe because he’s much younger than Jeremy. But he can’t seem to make these innocuous decisions for me. I always have to decide for both and sometimes it’s a huge turnoff. _“Darling, we’re driving to the beach today and we’re bringing Italian takeout with us”._ Who wouldn’t like that? While I love being pleased, I also like surprises and plans made for me, but he still doesn’t get it.

Comes with age I guess?

* * *

_“So, let me try to grasp this”,_ Jeremy started.

We were sitting on his balcony mattress, surrounded by a bunch of big decorative pillows which made it look like a giant couch. I had my back pressed against his chest, and a furry blanket over our legs while we ate the stir fry he had made, out of black bowls. This place, designed by him for me and my love for stargazing, was always here waiting for me.

 _“He proposed to you and you said no?”_ he added.

 _“No”,_ I said picking up a vegetable with my chopsticks, _“He keeps on casually bringing up the future of our relationship every chance he gets. Can you believe that he actually told me he could clearly picture himself sleeping with a tiny baby on his chest, right next to me?”,_ I chewed my food, swallowed and continued, _“Oh he wants to propose but my evasive responses to these visions of his have made my answer very clear. Or so I thought… until he practically forced me to hold a baby today”._

I could feel the vibration of Jeremy’s silent giggles reverberating in his chest, behind me. The laughter died down and we ate in silence for a while until we set the empty bowls on the floor and drank some wine.

 _“Perhaps…”_ he said in almost a whisper, _“Perhaps you should marry him”._

I glanced at him over my shoulder and frowned.

_“Don’t look at me like that. You know you love him”._

_“I didn’t go to his sister’s wedding because I didn’t want to meet his family. I’m sure they’re lovely people but once they’re involved, it all goes to shit. You’re suddenly obligated to behave in a certain way and be polite and say yes to everything. And God forbid you break his heart!”._

I had to take a deep breath before I kept going.

_“Jeremy… can you honestly picture me as a married woman? Baking cookies with my grandchildren obsessed mother-in-law?”_

_“Absolutely not”_ he said in my ear, _“You’re too sexy for that”._

_“Tell that to him”._

_“Well, talk about it. If marriage is so important to him, then so should be your privacy and likes and dislikes. Try to come to an agreement. He’s with you. He should be interested in what you have to say”._

_“Not after tonight, no”._

Jeremy took a deep breath and after exhaling, spoke again.

_“He’s going to look for you tomorrow. Here’s what happened. You left, he stayed a little longer at the wedding, probably said ‘all right, fuck her’, then realized there was no point in being there without you, felt like shit and went home. He probably had a few drinks, thought about calling you a thousand times but restrained himself, thinking that you might need some alone time, so he doesn’t want to be a pest. Therefore, he’ll come knocking on your door tomorrow”._

_“Wow… is that really how the male mind works?”_

_“Oh yes. We make everything worse”._

I giggled and threw my head back resting it on his shoulder, and he looked down at me.

 _“You know what his mistake was?”_ he asked in a whisper while staring at my lips.

_“Hm?”_

_“Not going after you and letting you get into a cab in the middle of the night all by yourself, the bloody idiot. Otherwise, you’d be in his bed not mine. Perhaps I should send him a thank you note”._

Jeremy’s deep voice was traveling through me like a slow soothing wind making my heart race. He leaned in closer until he gently captured my lips with his and kissed me for the first time since I had arrived. Hadn’t done it sooner because he was dirty at my arrival and no gentleman should kiss a lady in such state; I wouldn’t have cared but he did.

 _“Why can’t he be happy with the way things are?”_ I asked once we pulled apart, _“Why does he need more? How’s a diamond ring going to make things any different?”_

_“He wants you”._

_“He has me”._

_“All to himself”,_ Jeremy stated.

So no more Jeremy.

 _“But you can’t really blame him”,_ he added. _“You’re every man’s dream”._

_“Be serious”._

_“I am”._

I stared at him, astounded and confused.

_“Every man you date ends up wanting to marry you. You’re deadly”._

_“Does that include you?”_

_“We haven’t dated”_ , he said with a playful smile while shaking his head.

_“I know better than to ask you for an engagement ring, Jeremy. Just like Tom should know better when it comes to me”._

Jeremy lowered his upper body so that I’d follow and lie on the mattress. His fingertips caressed my forehead moving a strand of hair to the side while he stared straight into my eyes.

 _“You’re not…”_ he hesitated looking confused, _“…really waiting for me, are you?”_

I swallowed hard, having trouble choosing my words, so he spoke again.

_“Because… I know who you are. And I’m happy with seeing you and having you here even for the short periods of time you allow me”._

_“No, Jeremy. I don’t want to start eating breakfast together every morning. I’m just… I don’t want to lose you. If I marry him, this would have to end, wouldn’t it?”_

He adjusted himself between my legs and started to unbutton his pants.

_“Diamond or not, I’ll always be here for you”._

I bit my lip to prevent a grin and failed.

_“You scoundrel”._

He laughed, and then proceeded to remove my clothes, kiss every inch of my bare skin and make love to me under the stars, with his shameless promises of continuing our affair no matter what.

This is why it worked for us. Because none of us wanted more, because we already had each other and understood that if we took a bigger step, this would turn into a love story gone terribly wrong. We’d be wolves trapped in a cage for too long until we started hating each other to the point where we’d kill at the slightest provocation or meaningless issue.

But Tom couldn’t see that. Maybe because he hadn’t seen love die like I had. And Jeremy made me see that perhaps he just asked for the exclusiveness I had never offered. He had always known about me and Jeremy. Why hadn’t he left me then? Was he hoping for me to leave my lover once and for all or did he simply accept me for who I was? Was that love then?

All I was positive about was this, I can’t leave Jeremy, and Tom can’t leave me.

My lover was right; Tom knocked on my door the very next night.


End file.
